Phagwara, October 1
Hundreds of residents led by councillors Kusum Sharma, Padam Dev Sudhir, Arun Khosla, Bira Ram Baljot sat on a day-long dharna, and held demonstration against the Phagwara Nagar Council’s working. They alleged that the working of the council had become a major contributory factor in the jaundice outbreak in Phagwara.

They also alleged that jaundice had claimed the life of a youth Manpreet Singh, a student of BA final, who breathed his last at DMC Hospital, Ludhiana, yesterday night.

According to councillor Kusum Sharma, the student, a resident of local Adarsh Nagar, was suffering from jaundice. He was first admitted to a local hospital, and then shifted to Ludhiana due to his critical condition, claimed the councillor.

Earlier, one Asha Rani, who was eight months pregnant, had allegedly died of jaundice, added the councillor.

More than 60 patients were still suffering from jaundice in different areas of the town, including Onkar Nagar, Adarsh Nagar, Daddal Mohalla, Mohalla Dharamkot and Ohrian Mohalla.

A protest rally was also organised at the local Nimmanwala Chowk, in which the protestors threatened to block the traffic, and called for the Phagwara bandh if no action was initiated by the Nagar Council, the Health Department and the local administration by Tuesday. 

Phagwara, October 1
The Central Government’s decision to leave out Punjab in its Rs 17,000-crore rehabilitation package for four states may cost the Congress dear in the ensuing Assembly elections. It has already caused a “widespread resentment” among farmers.

Indicating this, Punjab BJP president, Mr Avinash Rai Khanna, told The Tribune on Sunday that SAD and the BJP were “committed to defeat the Congress”.

The seat sharing between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP for the ensuing Assembly elections in the state was likely to be finalised in the meeting of the coordination committee of the two parties in the coming week. The seat-sharing issue would be amicably settled between the two parties to mutual satisfaction, he said.

He, however, refused to comment on the number of seats the BJP was seeking, saying that the party would get its due share.

Mr Khanna also reiterated that the alliance would take part in the elections under the leadership of former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. He, however, parried questions about the post-election status of Mr Sukhbir Singh Badal, saying that it was an internal matter of SAD.

Accusing Capt Amarinder Singh of being involved in the Ludhiana City Centre scam, he claimed that the Vigilance Bureau had so far not taken records of the Ludhiana Improvement Trust into its possession, and apprehended that the evidence might have been destroyed by now. He also demanded that the Ludhiana City Centre scam be probed by the CBI.

Flaying Capt Amarinder Singh over the “brutal lathi charge” on veterinary doctors, especially women doctors, in Ludhiana a few days ago, and the manhandling of pharmacists at Goniana Mandi in Bathinda district on Saturday, he alleged that it was wrong on the part of CM to say that those coming in the way of maintaining law and order would be dealt with similarly. “This proves that the lathi charge on peacefully protesting veterinary doctors, and the manhandling of pharmacists were at CM’s behest,” Mr Khanna alleged. 

Jalandhar, October 1
Dr Jasbir Kaur Gill, a scholar on the Ghadar Movement, would attend an international conference dedicated to the 100th birth anniversary of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

The conference would be held at Sacramento in the USA on October 7. It would be organised by the “Freedom Fighter Memorial Ghadari Babe”, a California-based organisation.

During the programme, seminars would be organised to highlight the contribution of freedom fighters, who had sacrificed their lives for the independence of India.

Dr Gill, who has done her doctorate in the Ghadar Movement from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, is the daughter of freedom fighter Shaheed Banta Singh Sangwal.

Apart from deliberating on the topic “Indelible impact of Ghadar Party on Independence Movement”, Dr Gill would discuss on the radio and television there the contribution of the Ghadari Babas.

It was at Sacramento that nearly six thousand people had gathered under the leadership of Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna on August 10, 1914, and taken the oath of making India an independent country, said Dr Gill.

Jalandhar, October 1
Mr Pyara Lal Aggarwal, an inmate of the Red Cross Home for Senior Citizens, has set an example for hundreds like him with his remarkably positive attitude towards life.

He was abandoned by his family and is also visually impaired. But with grit and determination, he is living his life to the full.

Mr Aggarwal participates in talk shows for radio and TV.

He is also a member of the library of the National Institute of Visually Handicapped in Dehra Dun, where he was a teacher for over 21 years. The library sends him the latest books in Braille.

He also a life member of the National Talking Book Library, from where he gets a new set of audiotapes every month to listen to.

His entire room is filled with books in Braille. “I have hundreds of books on various topics and stories which I read every now and then,” he said picking up just the right book which he wanted to show.

Young at heart, this 67-year-old is technology savvy. He has also bought a DTH dish for the latest news and his Nokia mobile has an Internet connection, besides a new software from Mumbai that reads out messages and speaks at the press of every button.

Mr Aggarwal also has a talking clock in his keychain. One of his nephews sent it from the USA.

Holding it, he turns a bit emotional. “I come from a big family in Amritsar. I had four brothers and a sister. Two of my brothers are no more. All my siblings live with their own families. When I retired from Dehra Dun, no one was ready to accept me and I came here. This home opened in May 1990 and I was the first inmate here.”

Mr Aggarwal said he did not have many friends at the home as most of them were depressed after their children had failed to take care of them.

“I am friends with all of them but they do not make a good company as they seldom laugh. To find some change out of the dull and still life here, I go out in a rickshaw or an auto-rickshaw. I go to markets and the houses of my friends and a few distant relatives,” he said.

Mr Aggarwal has also been invited for a talk at a function of the Senior Citizen Welfare Congress to be held at Garha near Gurdwara Bhai Jeewan Singh.

Dr Amarjit Rai, president, said a free medical and sugar-testing camp will be held there.

The most elderly person at the camp would be honoured and on-the-spot Senior Citizen Cards will be made there, he added.